ElectriFly Cirrus SR22 Turbo Review

Good looks will only get you so far, especially considering they only last until the first crash! 2 Brothers takes a close look at ElectriFly’s new Cirrus SR22 Turbo to see what’s really under the hood.

Intro and Flight Footage

5X5 Review Scoring

Summary

The real Cirrus SR22 Turbo is a sleek, fast-flying, light passenger airplane that has a very loyal following among the more affluent private pilots (priced around $500k). Hit the news groups and you’ll soon realize the pros and cons of the real plane, such as an uneventful stall characteristic, trickier landings and plenty of power. ElectriFly’s scale SR22 is a great representation of the real thing, not only in looks but in performance and handling characteristics.

You’ll notice the power as soon as you start your roll-out. Ease back slightly on the stick and the Cirrus will break free of the runway and climb out with authority and stability. For scale handling, Electrifly had to bump the empennage specs just a little to insure strong pitch and yaw response, and you’ll feel the control as soon as you begin your first flat turn. The Cirrus has it all: power, response, stability, and ruggedness. The fiberglass wheel pants leave little tire clearance so the Cirrus is best kept to hard runways if you want to keep your paint shiny.

Run-times are as expected with a .10 size outrunner and we found ourselves coming in long before we grew tired of flying. Jumping up to a 3000 mAh pack would extend those run-times a bit and the added weight should be negligible, just pay close attention to the CG. The Cirrus is very finicky and likes a “just slightly” nose-forward CG for best handling. The fuselage is very short so we found the Cirrus to be quite pitch sensitive making proper CG all the more critical for your first few flights.

Build Notes

Aileron Wire Routing

As Rob had mentioned in video 2, the aileron wire routing path is located towards the trailing edge of the main wing. This step is usually a little cumbersome, but markedly so on the Cirrus. Be patient and be sure you fasten the pull string to your servo extension well or you’ll really find this to be a tricky step. Follow the instructions carefully and use the recommended heat shrink tubing method for joining your aileron extensions.

Anti-rotation Pins

The anti-rotation pins (carbon fiber) fit VERY snug in the pre-drilled holes located in the root rib of the wings. I was able to press them in with my fingers with considerable effort. Being such a tight fit, and requiring so much pressure, it’s easy to get them a little crooked. Make sure they are square to the root rib and protruding the recommended amount (5/16″ or 8mm) and dry fit BEFORE gluing. You may need to clean out the receiver holes in the fuselage of any manufacturing paint but be careful not to make the holes sloppy as this could allow undesired wing incidence and affect your flight. We used THIN CA to wick in the anti-rotation pins. This adhered nicely and insured a close fit for our wings to the fuselage without bulky glue fillets getting in the way.

Clear paint out of holes to accept carbon pins

Verify pin protrusion before gluing

Wing Bolts

The wing bolts on our model did not line up very well after we inserted the wings into the fuselage. They weren’t terribly out of alignment, but we did have to use a drill bit to correct the hole alignment in the fuselage. When finished, your wing bolts should align perpendicular to the wing root as shown and easily rotate in the threaded wing stud.

(Page 9 of the instruction manual – Install the Tail Section, Step 1)

Elevator Joiner Slots

Our model’s right elevator joiner wire slot wasn’t cut all the way to the actual joiner wire hole. You may have to make adjustments by continuing the slot all the way to the hole. Be sure you have a seamless, smooth and flush fit of the joiner wire or you’ll have problems with alignment during hinging. Dry fit and adjust your elevators and joiner wire as necessary until you have smooth, flush and even alignment.

Wheel Pants (general builders tip)

The wheel pants on the Cirrus were fantastic! The fit and finish was truly excellent. Probably the best factory fit we’ve ever encountered. Factory paint, however, had nearly sealed the pre-drilled holes and if you attempt to install the self-tapping screws without first re-drilling the holes you may crack or “blow out” the fiberglass surrounding the holes. Use a Dremel or a hand drill with an appropriate bit and clean out the original pre-drilled holes before attempting to install the screws for the best finish possible. Be careful not to use the wrong bit and make the holes too loose or your wheel pants could fail.

We used a 1.6mm drill bit on the two rear pants and a 2mm on the front pant. (Pages 8 and 12 of the instruction manual)

Motor Shaft Hole

Our RimFire motor bound against the shaft hole in the engine mount after installation. There is a snap ring on the RimFire .10 motor shaft that was digging into the wood no matter how we adjusted the motor mounting screws so we had to open up the hole in the plywood a little with our Dremel tool. A small adjustment, but it could have been overlooked very easily and affected the performance and runtime of our motor. Make sure your motor moves freely before moving on to the next step.